Bannan speak out against Mon… Part 2

[Chris Smith]

One of the papers that carried the report of the Scotland game yesterday said that he was 5' 7". Don't see why this is necessarily an issue.

Maybe MON was thinking of playing him at CB and was worried that he was a little bit short.

He looks shorter than that, I'd say more like 5' 4".

Many of us had concerns about his size so it's hardly unreasonable that the manager did too. As Kevin says, he's suiting the way we play now and I'm sure he benefited from his loan last season.

[DB]

I heard an interview with him last week on the radio where he said he was 5'7''. Anyway, some of the best players in the world are/have been small - Messi, Maradonna, Hendrie....

[pauliewalnuts]

I'd rather he didn't say this sort of thing, to be honest.

He's very young, still, and has a long way to go before he cements himself as an established player. The too small thing is also something which pretty much everyone I sit around at the match says about him, as well as most on here until recently, so if MON had flagged that up, he'd hardly be picking on something which wasn't valid.

[PaulTheVillan]

I heard an interview with him last week on the radio where he said he was 5'7''. Anyway, some of the best players in the world are/have been small - Messi, Maradonna, Hendrie....

Xavi & Iniesta are both 5'7.
Scholes is 5'7 & half.
Dennis Wise is 5'6" and he was a right ******.

[dave shelley]

Anyone remember Willie Carlin played in the great Derby sides of the 70's, a lot of their good football came about through him.  About the same size as Bannan I think if not smaller.

[E I Adio]

Archie Gemmill, Alan Ball, Johnny McLeod....

[Darth Villa]

As a fellow 5'7" giant I can sympathize completely with the big man. I had a trial at Forest as a teenager and was told that I was too small to be anything but a parks player. Being told that you’re probably too small is pretty tough to take as a teenager it's not like you can do a lot about it. I didn't really take football that seriously after that. Bannan will have had this his whole life so he's got to be mentally tough. I can fully understand that now he’s getting a bit of press attention he’d like to redress the balance a little. I bet his size will be the first thing he’s asked about in an interview.

A year or two ago I spent some time in Latin America and started to play for a team in Mexico City. Most the guy's on the team were around my height but we got coached in how to play against bigger stronger players, how to use their size against them. A bit like a football judo. I'd never been taught anything like that in the UK.
It really annoys me no end when you hear pundits etc asking why as a nation we can't produce players like a Xavi or Iniesta. It's because in the modern game both of them would have been dismissed as being too diminutive before they even kicked a ball and Steve Claridge would have been picked instead.

And if any of you 5’10"+ freaks disagree I’ll kick your ankles in.

[D.boy]

Bannan isn't really having a dig at anyone from what I can see in that article.

[Merv]

Good post, Darth Villa. We 'want' a national team full of technically gifted players but then there's almost a general recruitment policy of picking bigger, stronger guys. Anyway, that's drifting across to another point entirely.

The two best teams in the world (club and international) have two 5ft 7ins footballers at the very heart of everything they do. And if 5ft 8ins Jack Wilshere can be lauded as England's great new midfield hope, I don't see why Barry Bannan can't at least have a promising future in the Villa midfield.

It's not so much a dig at MON as stating the obvious. It's pretty obvious O'Neill didn't give Bannan much of a chance, though we'll never know what he had planned for him this season - and O'Neill was never in a situation where he was collectively without Petrov, Sidwell, Reo-Coker and Delph, four central midfielders. Let's face it, Houllier hasn't had much choice but to give Bannan a few games!

[Phil from the upper holte]

Is he fuck 5,7 im 5.7 he's not as tall as me

I don't see anything wrong with what he's said, he's probably just been asked a question

[Shrek]

We all had reservations about his size, but he should of at least had a chance before this season.

[darren woolley]

It's not size that matter's it's the quality he is going to be a very good player as long as he is doing it on the pitch i'm not bothered about his size.

[Irish villain]

Is he fuck 5,7 im 5.7 he's not as tall as me

I don't see anything wrong with what he's said, he's probably just been asked a question

Me too! I'm 5,7 and thought he was definitely shorter...

[TimTheVillain]

In Brummie vernacular, he is a 'string of piss'.

It's not just the height thing.............

[Villa'Zawg]

We all had reservations about his size, but he should of at least had a chance before this season.

I thought loaning him to Blackpool was exactly what he needed last season, he wouldn't have been selected ahead of Milner or Petrov.

Would he have been ready to play in the Premier League if he hadn't had his loan spell at Blakpool last season?